The United States finished undefeated on the opening day of the men's freestyle competition at the 2026 U20 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Thursday.

Virginia Tech's Aaron Seidel (61 kilograms) and Missouri's Aeoden Sinclair (86 kilograms) both advanced to the finals, combining to go 7-0.

Seidel, a third-place finisher at the NCAAs as a true freshman, was the first American to punch his ticket to the finals, posting a 10-0 first-period technical superiority over U20 Pan American bronze medalist Moses Mendoza Garza of Mexico in the 61-kilogram semifinals.

The Hokie All-American, competing in his first international tournament, finished the day with three technical superiorities and a fall, including victories over 2025 U20 world silver medalist Ahora Khateri of Iran and 2023 U17 world bronze medalist Jamal Abbasov of Azerbaijan. Seidel will face 2025 U17 world bronze medalist and reigning U20 Asian champion Bekassyl Assambek of Kazakhstan in Thursday's finals.

Sinclair's path to the 86-kilogram final was considerably more dramatic. In the semifinals, U20 Asian bronze medalist Natsura Okazawa of Japan raced out to a convincing 6-0 lead after opening period. Sinclair battled back in the second period, tiring out the Japanese wrestler and mounting a major comeback, scoring the go-ahead takedown with just under 30 seconds remaining to win 7-6.

Sinclair, a two-time age-group world team member and NCAA All-American, opened the tournament with a 12-2 technical superiority over U20 Asian bronze medalist Askhab Khajiyev of Kazakhstan before defeating 2024 U17 world champion and reigning U20 Asian champion Abolfazl Shamsipour Hajivand of Iran on criteria, 4-4. Sinclair will face Akhmad Mukutov of Russia in the finals.